Research efforts include the synthesis of chorismic acid and related substances that are intermediates in the biosynthesis of aromatic amino acids and growth factors in microorganisms and higher plants. The synthetic procedures will be adapted to the preparation of structural modifications of chorismic acid to prepare materials that act as competitive inhibitors to the enzymes that metabolize chorismic acid. The possibility that the modified structures will have antibiotic activity or will act as plant growth regulators is under consideration. The chemistry of arene oxides is also under investigation since an understanding of their chemistry will aid in understanding the fate of arene oxides produced in the liver of mammalian species. Intermediates prepared in synthetic studies, particularly those containing epoxide functionalities, will be submitted for screening for antitumor activity.